I think we've all known for some time that Hollywood is pretty much out of ideas. It used to be that producers had to search for original content. Then it became seemingly original content from obscure novels that nobody had read. Eventually it became novels that everyone had read that would get the Hollywood treatment and now producers are searching for anything to turn into a movie including comic books, video games, amusement park rides and even boardgames. Hollywood has even become cannibalistic and has decided that remaking movies it all ready has made is a good idea. Generally this is done primarily for financial gain and little else. This commonly comes in 2 flavors: relaunches and reboots. Relaunches involve reinvigorating older, established franchises and is usually done by adding additional sequels with improved or more advanced film making techniques. Sometimes this even means having a sequel to a movie that came out decades earlier. Isn't that right Tron? Reboots are a trickier business. Their very existence implies that something else came before them. Something that had some level of popularity, either past or present, that is worthy of emulation. The question with them is to what extent do you just retell the exact same story with a sexier, more current cast and newer, flashier technology? Do you mimic the previous work closely or do you shake things up and deviate? Its hard to know the right answer, especially considering the diehard fan bases some of these movies have. Undoubtedly this is something the Star Trek producers stumbled on years ago when they decided to make fresh and new Star Trek movies. Do you go with a relaunch or a reboot? I am pretty sure I nailed how that meeting went back when they made the first of these a few years ago. It seemed to me that they did a great job of relaunching their franchise (even if they had to cheat with time travel). Now I can see that they did something far more unique than simply relaunch the franchise. No, they are performing a rare relaunch/reboot simultaneously! The meeting must have gone something like this:
"Great job guys! We did it! We have relaunched the Star Trek franchise and have made it profitable, er, I mean, relevant again!"
"Yep, we've got a real hit on our hands that we outta be able to milk for several years to come with endless sequels."
"And the best part is that we've basically avoided all that rich, rich Star Trek canon that those nerds are so invested in. Thank you time travel! It would have been a real headache to navigate through all of that. Now, we can do anything we want!"
"It truly is a blank canvas giving us a great opportunity to, uh, as they say, boldly go where no man has gone before."
(laughter from all present)
"Ok, but seriously now, what new adventures do we have in store for Kirk and his unbelievably young and sexy crew?"
(silence)
(blank stares)
(more silence)
"Really guys? We went to all this trouble to get to this point. Certainly you have new ideas you'd like to explore?"
(even more awkward silence)
"You know that one iconic Star Trek movie that was made so many years ago is pretty dang great. Why don't we just do that again, but you know...flashier and sexier?"
"Only if we can deny thats what we're up to when everyone inevitably guesses thats what we're doing. Oh, and can we include the same iconic scenes and dialog with slight tweaks?"
"Of course!"
"Brilliant!"
Seriously, these new Star Trek movies are at once a relaunch, but in some ways also a reboot. Not sure if I should be disappointed or impressed. Since they can be two things, maybe I can just be both. Really, it is a bit wild what they are doing and I was wrong to initially discount it so much, but if the next one has any whales in it then I'll be...well, I guess just not surprised.
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